Mary Rinell’s story and photos
A great sixth day for several Americans at ISDE 2022! Team USA members Austin Walton (Junior World) and Kristid (Women’s Trophy) won their respective tournaments, with teammates Matteo Oliveira and Rachel Gutish finishing third. Both Austin and Corey jumped up front from the first corner, never letting up or even making a mistake, leading them both to victory.
Both of these teams lost a member which took them out of the class but the world trophy ball The team won a respectable fifth place despite adversity. Kailub Russell and Dante Oliveira were actually the other winning team. Spain’s Josep Garcia and the two Americans were in the Red Bull manufacturer’s squad, who finished before the game. It doesn’t hurt that Garcia is first.
A very happy group of Italians took home the Youth World Trophy for the second year in a row. It is followed by Finland and Spain.
In the women’s trophy match, Great Britain is in for the first time. They are followed by homegrown France and Australia, which are furloughed in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions. The six days of competition will end with a very happy victory for Great Britain in the trophy and women’s division. It’s been almost 70 years since they won the ISDE (1953), so winning in both classes is a huge achievement.
Italy and Spain battle for second place and it all comes down to the final race. Spectators watched as Italy’s leaders Josep Garcia and Andrea Verona fought their way through nine laps, back and forth, until Verona finally declared victory and lifted the Italian to second place. podium position.
In club class, USA is happy to see Team XC Gear finish second . The team consisted of racers Craig Delong (P4), Kai Aiello (P10) and Tyler Vore (P15), all riding solid motorcycles to help ensure their eventual overall team finish. Ahead of them was Team KBS of the Czech Republic, with the French Enduro Dream Team taking the final podium position.
It wasn’t Taylor’s first six-day race, but it was his first podium finish due to bad luck in the first three years. “It’s been a year of redemption for me, I’m fighting a former world champion (Antoine Meo) and an ISDE overall champion, so I’m ecstatic about it. I’ve looked up to him since I was a kid, so from these guys The start…was incredible. This week was a lot of fun and all the testing was incredible…the best six days I’ve ridden. No doubt it’s very technical and a lot of variety.”
Novices on Day 6 of the year, the racer classifications (C1, C2, C3) didn’t play a role in their starting positions, mixing the courses and starting to finish for the more challenging races.
